Broken Vessels (poetry/art happening)

Concept & Installation: Anatoliy Kharkhurin
Poetry: Tovy Harhur
Video: Karina Saidi
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This video documents an installation presented at The Big Picture Dubai in proArt Gallery (Dubai, UAE).

The visitors of the exhibition play a central role in this project thereby making it an art happening. The major theme evolves around people’s egocentric behavior, which undermines their existentially sustainable development. In the project, I state that people were granted sustainable virtues, which were intended to establish a path to existential completeness. People do not see these virtues, because they are occupied with their own reflection, their ego. This egocentric behavior masks these virtues thereby giving rise to existential void. What they see instead is the reflection of their own worries. Only in the moments characterized by psychologists as a state of flow, people see scattered pieces of these virtues. However, even in these moments they are not able to construct the full picture and therefore remain in confrontation with the givens of existence. The project calls to people’s awareness of the fact that selfishness results in existential void. It implicitly shows a path to spiritual restoration.

In this work, each verse of the poem (enclosed) presents a sustainable virtue given to people. The poem is printed in white on black paper covered by thin glass to create a mirror reflection. The poem covers the floor of the room. The visitors walk in the room. They see their own reflection masking the poem. This act presents inability of people to see the virtues because of their selfishness. By walking on the glass the visitors break it. Broken glass shards cut the paper on which the poem is printed thereby hampering reading of the poem. This act symbolizes people destroying the path to existential completeness.

Thus, the following parallel is constructed: The visitors are unable to read the poem because it is masked by their mirror reflection. Even when the glass breaks and they see that something is written underneath, they cannot comprehend it because the text is broken into pieces. This symbolizes the following: People live their lives and do not know that they were given sustainable virtues intended to impart meaning to their life. Thereby, they deprive themselves of the meaningful existence and make themselves unhappy. The poem in combination with the act of breaking the glass should make the visitors aware of the fact that their selfishness eliminates meaning from their life.

text

this is the will to elongate countenance
of the pleasure of the ancient of days
the white light has marked the crown
at birth the time passes by
the gaze becomes firmer sharper
and the mind – stuffed with properties

this is the left ear filled with
anticipation of mature thought
woman’s joy – the moment of conception
motherhood – the joy of acceptance –
comprehension: the mother of children
does rejoice but lacks harmony

this is a patch of lightning bolt rushing
about the right ear lobe – an earring
scatters temptation of inspiration
but the path of self-nullification is
forgotten and – unwilling to understand –
the wisdom of the world is masked with irony

this is the central trunk – the homonyms
coalesce therein: the supreme intellect has
penetrated the depth of his sensual essence
no one would condemn if knew
this relation like adam knew his wife eve
but lechery has been authorized here

this is severe might of judgment –
the concentration of supreme forces
as if the right hand that gives
was protected by the left one that strikes
to prevent squandering of the goodness
but instead it’s all atrocity

this is the right hand raised to
construct the world with loving-kindness
the love given to abraham
strove to unconditionally bestow
largesse but the goodness has
been diverted by malignant gossip

this is the instant of beauty and harmony
of might and benevolence
the soul acquires its purpose
in splendor of the body
created for love – for love
but not for agonizing sex

this is the eternal resistance
to all influences on one’s path
it’s not dissoluteness but sincerity
the confidence in balanced motion –
the steadfast step of the left foot –
of all who believe in predestination

this is eternal victory
over all obstacles on one’s path
it’s not aggression but persistence
the supreme self-confidence –
the assertive step of the right foot –
of all who strive to rectify the world

this is the pillar bridging heaven and earth –
the foundation of the universe –
the righteous man who related all elements
to their procreative power
in the form of the reproductive organ that
carries the sign of covenant – the circumcision

instead of assembly of the souls –
hanging out
instead of actualizing speech –
small-talk
he has revealed his presence
he lowered himself like a woman
exposing herself
and being trampled on
there is no kingdom
without people
but the people
in its vain search for permanence
tramples on the revealed
he created his world as the kingdom
but the path to the king is forgotten